Maths sheds light on perfect cup of coffee

Mathematicians are a step closer to understanding what makes a perfect cup of coffee.
Through some complex calculations, they have shone a light on the processes governing how coffee is extracted for grains in a filter machine.
This could help drinkers optimise their cuppa by applying a more precise - and scientific - approach.
The work is published in the SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics.
Composed of over 1,800 chemical components, coffee is one of the most widely consumed drinks in the world.
Estimates put the number of cups drunk around the world at more than a couple of billion each... read more

Related news

Scientists have sequenced the first ancient human genomes from Ireland - shedding light on the genesis of Celtic populations.
A genome is the instruction booklet for building and maintaining a human - comprising three billion DNA letters.
The work...

The gut microbes of the Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old mummy found frozen in a European glacier in 1991, have shed new light on the history of human migration, scientists said on Thursday.
Researchers thawed the remains of Ötzi, who was killed by...

A 400-year-old silk dress discovered in a shipwreck off the Dutch coast has shed new light on a daring top-secret mission to pawn the crown jewels on the eve of the English civil war.
The well preserved garment was found by divers off the Dutch island...

Alistair Cooke in 1972. Four years earlier he wrote of the 'crackle of sharp sounds' he heard at the scene of Robert Kennedy's assassination. Photograph: AP How the BBC must wish its headlines in recent weeks were more like those on the day it began...

A shadow factory in 1941. Photograph: Coventry Transport Museum When the 16-year-old Mary Heath got a job at the Daimler car works in Coventry in 1937, she had no idea she was becoming part of the greatest move of women into engineering of the 20th...

St Paul’s School in New Hampshire boasts a glittering roster of alumni that includes senators, congressmen, a Nobel laureate and the current US secretary of state. The elite prep school also allegedly has a sordid tradition of sexual conquest where...